“Argh!”

Baltai faltered as he groaned with pain.

Ordinary people might lose their minds due to the severe pain, but Baltai was a different breed. He was the commander of the demonic army for a reason.

“Fuck!”

Baltai attempted to lift the halberd off the ground with his other hand while swearing, and Killian moved his body.

Shiik!

The long sword cut through the air and slashed down on Baltai’s right hand, which was about to grab onto the halberd.

Crush!

“Kuaaaaaaghh!”

A horrendous scream resounded. Just listening to it was enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end.

“Keeugh! Keugh!”

Both hands had been cut off, and blood flowed from their stumps like a waterfall. Baltai struggled.

Thud!

Baltai lost his reason due to the pain and fear, and he wildly waved his hands. Killian calmly placed a kick to his stomach.

“Agh!”

Baltai rolled across the corpse-filled, bloodied floor in an ugly fashion. But no one laughed at or sympathized with him. Only cold expressions remained on the faces of the Pendragon Duchy’s forces as they observed the struggles of the last demon, one who had once commanded thousands of troops.

“Keugh! H, have mercy. Please let me live, I will do whatever you tell me to do!”

Baltai’s frenzied attitude disappeared completely and he begged in a servile manner. Killian responded with a smirk.

“Did I say I was going to kill you?”

“T, then…”

The hellish pain caused sweat to form all over his body, but a ray of hope appeared in Baltai’s eyes. But it was just a vain wish.

“There is only one person in the world who can rid you of your filthy head. I am not going to kill you right now, so there is no need to worry.”

“Ugh…”

Baltai knew exactly who Killian was referring to, and his expression crumpled terribly.

“Hey!”

Some soldiers approached at Killian’s shout.

“Kuaaaghh!”

The soldiers poured strong alcohol on Baltai’s severed wrists before splashing herbal acid.

“Keugh…”

Baltai was unable to overcome the pain and lost consciousness.

“Take him away and take care of him.”

Despite it being the words of their supreme commander, the soldiers appeared a little dissatisfied. However, Killian’s following words soon relieved their expressions.

“He must never die until we see our lord the duke. His Excellency will show him the greatest pain in the world.”

“…..”

The soldiers bowed their heads before dragging Baltai away.

Killian turned his head.

Karuta, Isla, and all the troops of the Pendragon Duchy were watching him, waiting for his announcement as the head knight. After taking a short breath, Killian shook off his long sword which was dripping with Baltai’s dirty blood before lifting his blade high into the sky.

“All those who dared to insult the name of Pendragon have been taken care of! All we have left is to go bring back the lord with us! Pendragon will definitely emerge victorious once more!”

“Uaaaaahhh!”

The shouts of victory echoed over the bloody battlefield.

***

In a single battle, the Pendragon Duchy’s forces won against troops numbering many more times than their own. It was a perfect victory - an unprecedented, overwhelming victory. There were only two dead and ten injured.

Everyone who heard the news were in awe at the strength of the Pendragon Duchy’s troops. This was not a simple duel between knights or a battle involving a small number of troops. They had achieved flawless victory in a real, large-scale war, and the aftermath was quite significant as well. The fact that the opponent had been the notorious demonic army also greatly contributed to the shock.

However, it was such a perfect victory that quite a few people disparaged the fight, saying that the demonic army might have been nothing more than the rumors.

But most of those with such opinions were ignorant of actual combat and tactics.

The Pendragon Duchy’s troops had accurately identified the enemy’s location using the griffons. Then, they threw oil bottles and torches to cause the primary damage.

Shortly thereafter, the infantrymen fired fire arrows after receiving the signal from the griffon unit, causing panic and dividing the enemy into multiple groups.

The fleeing groups of the enemies were identified with the griffons once more, and large, red flags were thrown down to inform the escape routes to the heavy cavalry and the orc warriors.

Afterwards, it was a one-sided hunt.

The soldiers of the demonic army had escaped their camp in a hurry, and many of them did not even have the time to properly equip themselves. They were not a match for the heavily armed troops of the cavalry and the Ancona Orc warriors.

Although they attempted to escape in another direction belatedly, they could not avoid the detection of the griffons. After all, griffons had better eyesight than eagles and better mobility than horses.

One or two griffons were capable of handling more than a hundred soldiers, and as many as fifty of such creatures were present. Moreover, they were all heavily armed and vigorously trained to follow the riders’ orders.

With the griffons chasing the escapees in groups of 10, there was no chance for the fleeing soldiers of the demonic army.

In addition, the infantrymen had strategized effectively as well. They shot crossbows when a distance was maintained between them and the enemies, and when the enemies approached, they pushed the enemy away utilizing the tightly bound shield wall and spears. Meanwhile, the heavy cavalry reigned destruction on the backside of the enemy soldiers.

In other words, the perfect victory of the Pendragon Duchy was a tactical victory that was achieved by utilizing the various forces of the Pendragon Duchy in the most effective way possible.

Therefore, the imperial commanders and knights from all over the empire would have no choice but to admire the Pendragon Duchy after hearing of the battle. Then, they would even seriously reconsider the choices of unit formations and tactics they had employed until then.

However, that was still in the distant future. For now, the Pendragon Duchy’s annihilation of the demonic army greatly boosted the spirits of the southern nobles and the landlords, who were daunted by the looming, full-scale invasion of the Arangis family.

Nevertheless, the absence of one man remained a major concern for the United Southern Army. In the upcoming war, 

he 

would undoubtedly be a critical figure.

***

“I wish you the best of luck, Duke Pendragon.”

“Thank you.”

Raven gave a curt response to Kara’s encouragement, then turned around.

More than a hundred Red Moon elven warriors paved the way for him. However, some of the warriors looked somewhat displeased. They were aware of the identity of the awe-inspiring spirit that exuded from the human.

A dragon, whom their ancestors served in the distant past before they crossed over from the mainland. The man in front of them possessed the special energy belonging to the existence called the Queen, the strongest of all dragons.

However, most of the Red Moon elves had never seen a dragon before, with the exception of Kara and some of the older individuals. Therefore, the energy exuded by Raven only provided them with feelings of intimidation and discomfort.

Recognizing the sentiment of the warriors, Kara called out the names of two warriors who had the worst expressions.

“Eltuan, Ellaja.”

“Yes, mother.”

Answering her calls and addressing her with the title given to the leader of the tribe, the two elven warriors with similar appearances bowed their heads.

“I know how you two are feeling, but you should never have any other ideas. Although he is a human, Duke Pendragon is the one who has made a contract with the Dragon Queen, the White Dragon Lord Soldrake.”

“Yes…”

They answered reluctantly, but their expressions still remained mostly unchanged. With a loving smile, Kara patted the two of them on their shoulders.

“Remember. Duke Pendragon is not our enemy. Only he and Lord Soldrake can solve the crisis of our tribe and fulfil our long-cherished desires. Helping him is the way forward for our tribe.”

“Understood.”

“I will keep that in mind, mother.”

The two warriors answered in a blunt voice before bringing their foreheads towards the hand Kara was holding out. All of the elven warriors stepped up in turn and bowed their heads before meeting their foreheads with her hand.

After all of the warriors finished the ceremony, the warrior called Eltuan approached Raven.

“Let’s go.”

A brusque voice and plain informal speech. Kara frowned slightly with concern at Eltuan’s attitude. However, Raven was not one to be offended by such attitudes. He smirked before replying.

“He will slowly learn our language over time. Don’t worry, there will be no more issues once we become close.”

Kara felt a little relieved at Raven’s words and nodded. But she did not know the true meaning of ‘

becoming

close’

 with Raven…

She was ignorant of how Raven had become close with so many people - especially men - until now.

‘Elves, orcs, humans, they’re all the same. If I beat them up and scuffle with them, I’ll get to know them in no time at all.’

A deep smile appeared around the mouth of Raven, the man who had ‘become close’ with many men using his own methods.

***

After being subjected to torrential rain, the Great Forest was enveloped in thick fog. As soon as the rain stopped, the hot sun beamed down to the earth, which caused the moisture to evaporate into fog.

Ordinary humans could not find their way through the Great Forest. The thick green trees and dense fog circling the bushes provided limited vision. One could only see a few yards ahead.

However, the Red Moon Valley elven warriors were different.

They had plentiful experience in navigating the Great Forest, some 10 years, others 100 years. They travelled close to the village, but also to far distances more than 10 days away from the settlement. Therefore, they easily found their way in the thick fog.

“With a human, it’s uncomfortable.”

Raven turned his head at the slightly awkward speech.

It was Eltuan, the leader of the Red Moon Valley warriors.

“What’s uncomfortable?”

When Raven asked, Eltuan replied in a cold voice as if he had waited.

“Slow. Can’t even ride a tree. This speed, we can’t meet mountain giant even in few days.”

It was true.

All the elven warriors travelled on top of trees rather than walking on the ground. However, that was their problem, not his.

Raven smirked before replying.

“If it’s uncomfortable, you guys can go ahead. I can find the way myself.”

“What…?”

Eltuan frowned at the unexpected response. But he spoke with a large frown.

“Human. Can’t last three days alone. You are mother’s guest. Can’t have you be a dead body.”

Raven wiped the smile from his mouth. Eltuan refused to refer to Raven as the guest of the tribe until the end.

“You look quite smart, but you’re too stupid.”

“…..!”

Threatening expressions appeared on the faces of Eltuan and the elven warriors at Raven’s words. But he remained calm while continuing on.

“Before I met with you, how do you think I was able to survive? Especially dealing with those who were chasing after me and those who crawl out at night.”

“Hm…”

Eltuan’s expression underwent a slight change.

Indeed, the human with the strange spirit in front of them had survived in the Great Forest for nearly 10 days while overcoming persistent pursuit by the other humans and surviving monsters’ attacks.

“Surely. Not normal. I admit. But still, you are human. After we kill the mountain giant and evil wizard. The relationship is over.”

The other elven warriors nodded at Eltuan’s words.

“…..”

Raven silently gazed at Eltuan.

He had not expected the elf to come out like this just a few hours after leaving the village. However, it had only been a matter of time. Raven was already aware that the elves would show a disagreeable attitude, so he made up his mind.